Oct. 19, 2004 – Union workers for US Airways will likely have their pay cut 21 percent after a federal judge approved a measure Friday to help the airline emerge from bankruptcy.
The company?s average salary for its 34,000 workers will drop from $59,509 to $47,012. Management will not receive any pay cuts, a revelation that angers many workers and union officials.
"I have absolutely no doubt that wage cuts of this magnitude would and will result in severe financial hardships," US Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell told the Associated Press. But, he added, the company?s finances are so unstable that "basically what we have here is a ticking fiscal time bomb."
The unions argued that massive cuts were unnecessary and that the court could only alter contracts in response to extraordinary circumstances like natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
The reductions will remain in place until February 15, 2005.
